1.1.     Request for Proposals – Service Notice

1.1.1.        Nutrition International (NI), a non-profit agency dedicated to eliminating vitamin and mineral deficiencies worldwide, invites proposals from competent agencies/ to Hiring a consultant to conduct a feasibility assessment and develop standard operating protocol for an open market led system for potassium iodate in Pakistan

1.2.     Background

1.2.1.        Nutrition International (NI) has been working with the Government of Pakistan, the salt industry and other key partners since 2006 to support USI in the country, with the aim to reduce iodine deficiency disorders. Currently, almost 80% of all edible salt produced in the country is iodized. There has been a significant increase in household use of iodized salt, from 17% in 2001 to ~80% in 2018. This has resulted in achieving an adequate iodine nutrition status among women of reproductive age, and school-aged children. Every year, around 180 million people in the country are reached with iodized edible salt.

1.2.2.        Iodine is an essential micronutrient that must be consumed consistently to maintain optimal iodine nutrition and prevent Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD). For the past two decades, Nutrition International (NI) has been supporting the Government of Pakistan in ensuring optimal iodine nutrition through adequately iodized salt, with a particular focus on pregnant and lactating women. Given the absence of a local potassium iodate (KIO₃) production facility and the challenges of maintaining an uninterrupted supply of KIO3 imported from the global market, NI and the World Food Programme partnered with the Government of Pakistan to establish a KIO₃ revolving fund in 2012. Managed by NI through Genera Pharmaceutical, the fund facilitated the procurement of KIO₃ from international suppliers, which was then locally repacked into 500-gram retail pouches and made available to small and medium-scale salt millers on a no-profit, no-loss basis. While this mechanism supported consistent availability of KIO3 for salt processors, its management faced challenges, particularly due to currency devaluation and poor/slow cost recovery, which necessitated periodic capital infusions. These issues have affected both the efficiency and the long-term sustainability of the revolving fund.

1.2.3.        To address this, NI proposes to engage a consultant with expertise in transition from managing revolving funds to open market led system and develop a comprehensive standard operating protocol (SOP) for its effective transition and availability in the open market.

1.2.4.        This Request for Proposals (RFP) and particularly the Guidelines for Preparing Proposals that follow, are designed to help Respondents to produce proposals that are acceptable to the NI, and to ensure that all proposals are given equal consideration. It is essential, therefore, that Respondents provide the complete information that is requested, and in the formats and on the terms specified.

 DETAILED RFP ATTACHED